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but it is very troublesome and is very easily spread by the handto-mouth
transfer of contaminated material. The causative organism
of the disease, the Shigella Sonnei, is present in the faeces of
the infected person, and before the patient can be said to be likely
to be free from infection, it is in practice necessary to obtain
three consecutive negative specimens. This means that the infected
school child is often kept from school for several weeks, and
similarly, if the adult patient is a food handler, it may be necessary
for him to stay off work for quite a considerable time.
FOOD POISONING
Fifteen cases of food poisoning were notified during the year.
In most of these cases the resulting illness was not very severe
and of very short duration, and the evidence pointing to any
particular article of food as the cause of illness was usually very
indefinite. In eleven cases, only one member of a household was
affected, and in none of these cases did bacteriological investigation
show any bacterial contamination of food. In one case, four members
of a household were affected, and although the history of the
illness seemed to point to one article of food as the cause, no
confirmation of this was obtained by the bacteriological investigation.
The attention which the question of food poisoning has
received in the public press has served to make people more
aware of the possibility of such poisoning, with the result that
many cases of digestive upset which formerly attracted little or no
attention, are apt now to be notified as possible cases of food
poisoning.
DISINFECTION AND DISINFESTATION
The number of articles dealt with at the Disinfecting Station
was as follows:
Articles disinfected 680
Articles destroyed 195
229 rooms were disinfected on account of infectious disease,
and 70 disinfested on account of the presence of vermin.
179 library books were brought to the Department during the
year for disinfection.
Frequent requests are received from the Fire and Ambulance
Service for the disinfection of blankets and clothing.
The process used for the disinfection of bedding at the Disinfecting
Station is high pressure steam. Formalin is used for the
disinfection of rooms and library books, and D.D.T. liquid
insecticide for vermin, and also fly and wasp infestations. In
addition, disinfection of premises is carried out at various times
for infestations of beetles, cockroaches and ants and this is done
with D.D.T. general purpose dusting powder.